Understanding reliable methods of achieving high quality, and then applying them consistently, is a difficult task for anyone. If you are struggling with standardizing work to the best known practices, consider these possible causes:
Continue reading “Possible Causes of Standard Work Fails”Without standards, there can be no improvement.
Taiichi Ohno
Many people haven’t heard of Signal, it doesn’t have backing from any of the big tech corporations, while authoritarian regimes try to block it entirely. I only stumbled upon Signal after it was mentioned in a few articles involving Reporters communicating securely with Sources. This also happened around the same time as Facebook was exposed for using their apps to collect all sorts of information. Facebook isn’t alone in such practices, which contributes to the 4 reasons why you should switch to Signal Messenger:
Continue reading “4 Reasons Why You Should Switch to Signal Messenger”
Ever notice how often people gleefully describe a situation as pendulum swinging in their favor? This is rarely a result to celebrate, for one of two reasons:
The worst part: Pendulums aren’t actually going anywhere, they just bounce back and forth till they finally run out of energy.
Continue reading “Stop the Pendulum”
Lending Loop is a Canadian peer to business lending platform, which I enjoy for several reasons:
Why are heroes symptoms of a broken system? When a system works well, the regular efforts of people are enough to fulfill the system’s purpose. When it is broken, people need to go above and beyond.
This may all sound obvious, but we still hear plenty of examples where people use acts of heroism as purely good signs. Something along the lines of, “Isn’t it great that someone went above and beyond to save us?” No. At best, it is lucky on 3 counts:
Continue reading “Heroes are Symptoms of a Broken System”This idea may already be implemented by some groups, and I missed it, but I’ve noticed an issue with many rewards programs:
Take Westjet, for example. If you spend the $3000 to reach silver tier, but have no hope of spending enough to reach the $5000 gold tier, any trip near the end of the current period would contribute only to the companion voucher accumulation. If you delay until the next year, you get to fly with the silver benefits earned from the previous year, while also contributing to your silver status for the following year. This should be considered a significant risk as,
This conflict of interest could be fixed with one simple change:
Continue reading “Half Baked Idea: Long Term Rewards Accumulation”We learn many powerful lessons throughout life, but rarely apply the principles and practices to all relevant contexts. As mentioned in the video below, many appreciate and apply the concept of diversification to financial investments, but they apply equally to skills. The novelty of initial experiences can wear off, technology can negate any value, etc.
“Paralysis by analysis” is a risk with problems of all kinds. Consequently, people will often ignore issues or apply so-called band-aid solutions, which do little to address the root causes. Any problem will have multiple root causes, better represented in a tree diagram or fishbone. Unfortunately, these deeper analyses can be complicated and time consuming, when most situations require rapid action.
The solution: Find a single root cause, and address it. This is represented as the “5 Whys” in several frameworks. For any problem, ask and answer “Why?”, using each response as the next question; until you find an appropriate root cause, somewhere around the 5th round.
For example, I spend too much.
Continue reading “Using the 5 Whys to Quickly Address Problems”I have previously noted the harms of distraction, in more of a personal sense. This truth is similarly important in a workplace. Most people, including so-called supervisors, avoid any appearance of stillness, ending up distracted from many insights. Noticing a critical opportunity could easily double the productivity of a process. With a frequent process, one could quickly save thousands of hours of effort. A solution?
Many people, myself included, worry that making money from a hobby will ruin the experience. It doesn’t. Not if you do it right.
1. Set time limits
Don’t make it a full-time job, at least not initially. When it was entirely for fun, and might have cost you money, how much time did you spend? Start there. If you’re successful, there will be pressure to devote more, but you can stay as casual as you wish. You can ease into longer commitments, on a trial basis, to make sure it won’t break the engagement.
Continue reading “3 Ways to Prevent Earning Money from Ruining an Experience”